This remarkable lady was conceived, based on the natural landform of the Oak Ridges Moraine. The Moraine is a large deposit of sand and gravel left by the glaciers 15,000 years ago. It forms a 200 km long ridge from Trenton to Caledon, only stopping at the Niagara Escarpment. Geologists say that glacial ice emerging from Lake Ontario met a continental glacier coming from the north east, with both sheets of ice depositing their contents along this large lateral moraine. The Mistress resides along the spine of this geologic deposit and divides the drainage of the land between Lake Ontario to your left and Lake Scugog, nestled under her right arm. She covers almost 40 km of the Oak Ridges Moraine, from Brock Road in Pickering to Pontypool near Highway 35.The glacial ice, sometimes 2000 m thick, sculpted the landscape into parallel ridges, leaving long low hills called drumlins. Scugog Island is an excellent example of this. I have incorporated the linear texture of land by making the wood grain parallel to the direction of ice movement. I saw the woman’s flowing hair, her trailing right arm, and partly submerged right leg, as parallel features in the natural terrain. The south slope of the Oak Ridges Moraine is a much more steep and visible feature, particularly when viewed from the shore of Lake Ontario. The Mistress’ left arm drops down this slope and she cradles the side of the moraine, her fingers curled into the Lynde Creek valley. If one looks closely, they can see Chalk Lake under her chin. Her head is a regional high point, made up of the tangled forests of the Durham Woods.My choice of wood is symbolic. Lake Ontario is made of Poplar, a common tree along the shoreline. The moraine and lands north are carved from Basswood, found extensively on the moraine. Of interest, I selected walnut for the near-shore terrain that has a very special origin. This area lies below a feature called the Iroquois Shoreline, the edge of a glacial lake that once overtopped current Lake Ontario. The shoreline is seen above the dark walnut, which was selected to represent the heavy clay soils of the old lake bottom. The mistress looks down over this pre-historic shoreline from her perch on the moraine.The inspiration for the piece lies at the very “heart” of the Mistress. My home was Ashburn, located beneath the mistress’ shoulder blade, halfway between Port Perry and Port Whitby. This was a bustling little community in the late 1800’s, made up of hotels, blacksmiths, tailors, a school, soap-making, and many smaller support businesses. Then known as Butler’s Corners, the town was the resting point for many a weary lumber wagoneer coming down from the Scugog forests. It was essentially on a trade route until highway 12 was built. Today, Ashburn’s 400 residents have set up their own shops and businesses in the new cyber world that we live in. The Mistress of the Moraine is my tribute to the region’s much revered Oak Ridges Moraine. 2010 (private collection)